Projectile toys are old in the art including some having tails or other appendages. For example, Lawson (U.S. Pat. No. 3,393,911) teaches a comet toy having a nose, body portion, and a decorative tail. This toy is launched by swinging it about the distal end of its body portion in order to obtain maximum certifugal force prior to lift off. The primary goal of the toy is to provide a pleasing visual effect.
Another, Clarke (U.S. Pat. No. 4,088,319) teaches a game ball having a substantially straight foam tail which is intended to be resilient and have structural memory. The toy is launched by swinging it about the end of the tail remote from the ball. While this toy may be caught by its tail, no particular significance attaches to the feat.
Clark (U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,447) teaches an aerial amusement projectile having a streamer tail which acts as a drogue. This device is also launched by swinging the toy by its tail. The primary purpose of the device is to provide a visually pleasing effect.
Alabastro (U.S. Pat. No. 3,368,815) also teaches a projectile toy having a tail and method of playing therewith. Alabastro also has streamers which act as a drogue.
Blue (U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,781) teaches a toy having a resilient nose and a rigid tail. The user bounces the toy off of a hard surface and attempts to catch the toy on the rebound. The tail may be used to add impetus to the toy through centrifugal force.
As is apparent, there is no known prior art which discloses a toy and methods of playing therewith wherein the objective is to out score an opponent by being more skillful in catching the toy by its tail, the tail being provided with a plurality of segments, each having a different point value which is reflective of the general difficulty of catching the tail by that particular segment.